Sewage wastewater and waste, which are inevitable consequence of human life, and organic waste such as livestock manure generated from animals or livestock, are biochemically degraded by the action of minerals, metals, salts and microorganisms in the soil under suitable humidity and temperature, thus causing various odors. The generated odors are hydrogen sulfide, carbolic acids or compounds thereof, and other irritating gaseous substances, which give unpleasant sensations in daily life, and among them, inorganic substances and alkaline substances are substantially odorless, but almost all the organic substances generate odors. Particularly, sulfide compounds and nitrogen compounds are the main causes of odors.
Prior methods of removing the odors thus generated include a masking method, an adsorption method, a neutralization method, sterilization method and the like. The masking method is a method of generating a distinctive smell stronger than an offensive odor, such that the offensive odor is not felt, but this method requires expensive fragrances and it is difficult to fundamentally remove the offensive odor. The adsorption method is a physical method of adsorbing an offensive odor onto activated carbon or the like while discharging the offensive odor to the outdoors by an exhaust system, and has shortcomings in that high construction cost is required and high maintenance cost is incurred because expensive activated carbon must be periodically used. Also, the neutralization method is a chemical method of neutralizing an offensive odor into an acidic or alkaline substance, and enables an offensive odor to temporarily disappear during the use thereof. However, the neutralization method has shortcomings in that the disappearance of the offensive odor does not last long, it is difficult to treat an odor-causing substance having both acidic and basic groups, and it cannot have any effect if an odor-causing substance is neutral. The sterilization method is a method of killing bacteria themselves degrading organic substances, so as to prevent the decomposition of the organic substances and the generation of odors from the organic substances, and has a shortcoming in that it requires an expensive bactericide or preservative for maintaining an odorless state for a long time. Particularly, because the sterilization method aims to prevent the decomposition or fermentation of organic substances from occurring, it cannot be used in cases where a desired substance is obtained only by odors that are caused by the decomposition or fermentation of organic waste.
Thus, it will be preferable in economic terms to use a biological method of oxidizing and decomposing organic waster using microorganisms such as bacteria.
In Korean Patent Registration Nos. 10-0536456 and 10-0581738, a novel yeast strain and the genus Bacillus strain that ferment organic waste were isolated and identified and these strains were confirmed to have the effects of preventing offensive odors and killing and inhibiting harmful insects and pathogenic bacteria. Also, most fermented foods, including alcoholic drinks, breads, vinegars, fermented soybean foods (soy sauce, soybean paste, thick soypaste mixed with red peppers, etc.), fermented milk products (cheese, butter, yoghurt, etc.), salted foods (Kimchi, salted fish, etc.), red ginseng, and skates, are made by a number of microorganisms produced in nature and have characteristic odors. Recently, as interest in fermentation has increased, various studies, including the preparation of fermented ginseng, Chungkookjang confectionary and lactic acid fermented foods, the characteristic odors of which were removed, have been conducted.
Accordingly, the present inventors have made extensive efforts to develop a method for removing an offensive odor from organic waste using microorganisms. As a result, the present inventors have isolated and identified novel microorganisms having the efficiency in removing the offensive odor of organic waste and found that the novel microorganisms show the effects of removing the offensive odor of organic waste, killing insects and fungi, preventing decomposition, and promoting fermentation, thereby completing the present invention.